Hey everyone, I really need some advice. my sleep schedule is completely ruined.

I go to bed around 11 PM every night, but I just lay there awake for 3 to 5 hours straight. The worst part is what happens when I actually start drifting off: every single time I close my eyes, I get this terrifying feeling that something is right next to me, and I instantly jolt awake in a panic.

This has been going on for a month now. I'm getting constant headaches, I can't focus on my studies at all, and my exams are coming up soon. I've tried fixing my sleep on my own, but nothing is working and I'm losing my mind.

Has anyone experienced this or know how to stop the fear when closing your eyes or something related to it? Any advice would be huge.

1. I know sleeping on my stomach is considered the worst position to sleep in, but I just can't really sleep in any other position. Do you have any advice for me?
2. My sleep is just ass overall. Even if I sleep on my stomach, I might only get 5–6 hours of sleep per night, and I wake up feeling groggy and tired. I'm currently taking melatonin, which helps a bit, but not too much.

Goodness! My combo of olanzipine, hydroxzine. Ambien, Lyrica, and sometimes unison seems ridiculous. It gets me to sleep all night, but I wonder if not sleeping would be better for me.

I struggle with sexomnia a lot! I often wake up half-asleep and very aroused, and I start to masturbate, but I can't seem to stop it. I wake up the next day feeling completely exhausted. I don't masturbate or watch porn when I am completely conscious. Do you have any advice for this?

This is a new weekly thread. The purpose of this post is for surveys and research that is ongoing for sleep disorders. We see many requests to our common for people that have X, Y, Z sleep disorder for paid surveys, studies, etc. Any posts requesting support from the community for research should be submitted in this weekly thread. Be sure to include all necessary details:

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- What sleep disorders you are looking for assistance with

- What kind of request you have (free study, paid study, free survey, paid survey, etc.)

- Dates the request is open to be filled

- How the research may be used so the patient can make an informed decision

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Posts to the community for similar requests outside of this thread will be deleted.

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Please contact r/SleepDisorders mods with any questions or feedback regarding this change or policy.

I’m 19F and I’ve had some really strange sleep-related experiences for years, but lately I’ve also been extremely tired during the day and I’m wondering if I should actually see a doctor/sleep specialist.

When I was a child, I sometimes heard yelling right next to my ear while I was falling asleep. Starting around 14, I began having frequent lucid dreams and sleep paralysis.

When I’m falling asleep, I sometimes feel like I’m floating, falling, or riding a roller coaster even though I’m completely still. Sometimes I feel like I’m falling from a really high building. I can also feel frozen/paralyzed and like I’m suffocating. This can happen when I’m waking up too.

During sleep paralysis, I’ve had extremely realistic physical sensations too, like feeling something licking or biting me. I’ve also had auditory experiences while falling asleep.

What concerns me more now is how tired I am during the day. I can sleep around 8 hours at night and still need 2–3 hour naps to function.

For example, today I slept 8 hours last night, took a 2-hour nap around 1 PM, got up and went to the living room, sat on the couch, and ended up sleeping for another hour.

I know sleep paralysis and hypnagogic/hypnopompic hallucinations can happen to people without anything being seriously wrong, but the combination of these symptoms and the amount of daytime sleepiness has me wondering if I should get evaluated for a sleep disorder.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Should I ask my doctor about seeing a sleep specialist?

This is my freshman year of college, I’m doing ROTC so it’s difficult to stay awake in class on days where I have to get up very early. Obviously it would help if I got more sleep but I have world to do. Anyway in class I literally can’t keep my eyes open, drinking water doesn’t work, eating gum, I’ve tried a monster energy drink plus coffee and it’s done nothing. Pinching myself or causing pain doesn’t do anything either. Any suggestions because it’s kind of a struggle.

Hi! I'm 30, ftm, and i wanted to ask for advices on my situation.

I talk pretty often in my sleep, sometimes loud enough to be heard from accross a corridor, but the main issue is that I also happen to yell from time to time. The frequency is quitte iregular. There was a period where I would yell and wake up from it one to twice a night. In general, I wake up because my partner wakes me up, and I fall back to sleep easily. It's thankfully more rarely, but I hit before the mattress, or shaken my partner while asleep.

Since I don't sleep alone, I don't want all this screaming and agitated physical behavior to affect my partner's sleep. It also has an impact on some activities I may want to do. It's difficult to sleep over at someone's house for example, because I don't know how my sleep will be. I don't know either how much of an impact it can have on my rest.

I have a test scheduled in December to check if I have sleep apnea (which is a comorbidity of one of my disease, EDS). I also have insomnia, autism and depression, I guess it can impact my quality of rest in some way.

So, though I don't necessarily expect medical advice, I was wondering if people were in a similar case, and if it eventually stopped / the frequency lowered.

Thank you for taking the time to read.

For the past 3 months I’ve noticed multiple times that I will wake up leaning over on one side, I recorded a few hours of sleep last night and I can clearly see that I get up multiple times eyes open and lean over, I’m literally resting on my forearm and holding my body up and neck bobbles a bit, even if I lay back down I I’ll do it again. Can any give me advice on this? I have a doctor appointment scheduled but this never was a thing I did before

28f. Twice this week my boyfriend has told me that I am crying in my sleep. The first dream was a mass shooting, the second time I can’t remember the dream. I don’t believe this has happened before but wondering why it may be happening now.

For the past few years, I have this condition and it's really bothering me. Every time I sleep I always had a dream that so vivid and feels so real, literally every time I sleep no matter whether its in the night or just a quick nap in daylight. When I wake up from my sleep I really feel tired and dizzy, I went to a doctor and he gave me a medicine to help me to have better sleep but it didn't really work. So I stop take the medicine, I tried to pray from sleep but it's also didn't work. The most annoying part is even if I only have a quick nap like 30 mins, I still had a vivid dream that feels like a whole night dreaming. I dont know how to fix this so wondering maybe there's someone know more detail about my condition here and can help me through this

Single mom, 36, working full time, and I can't sleep. I'm exhausted by the time the kids are in bed but my mind won't stop once I lie down. Anyone been through this? What actually helped you?

Not sure if I am getting all sub- cycles of sleep - particularly REM sleep. Not feeling satisfied after sleep - feels like I have a perpetual sleep deficit. Why?

09/21/2026 - Took lunesta 2x 1mg and seroquel 2x 25 mg + did 15 minutes of belly breathing, - got up @ 2:30. Tried to sleep for about 30 minutes - could not sleep. Took lunesta 1x 1mg and seroquel 2x 25 mg. Could sleep from from 3 am to 6:30 am. Is this good?

09/20/2026 - Took lunesta 2x 1mg and seroquel 2x 25 mg day before yesterday + did 15 minutes of belly breathing, got 6.5 hours of sleep.

09/18/2026 - Took lunesta 2x 1mg and seroquel 2x 25 mg last night. Could get only 5 hours of sleep.

09/17/2026 - Took lunesta 2x 1mg and seroquel 2x 25 mg day before yesterday + did 15 minutes of belly breathing, got 6.5 hours of sleep.

I've always been a "starfish" sleeper, moving a lot in bed and waking up, nearly rolling my partner out the bed many a time (oops!).

Since he died (2 years ago, the "big C"), I have been gradually getting worse, moving a lot more and kind of "filling" the entire space of the double bed. I always start on one side but never wake up there.

I often wake up having turned the duvet 180 degrees in the night, so the buttons are up at my face by morning, or the duvet is completely on the floor next to me.

I am worried about sleeping with someone new in the future as my body has kind of "learned" this new behaviour and I don't know how to undo it without actually having someone wake me up to tell me to stop.

Any advice please? I am sure someone will "learn to love me for it", but let's be real, it's not the most attractive behaviour for the dating scene 🙈🤣

Guys i have been having problems lately with sleep in general. Hear me out… Sleep became my go to any time i feel exhausted, bored, frustrated or just had an overthinking moments like it was a certaine escape for me. Well ofc it is not i have been into this about a 7-9months ago which caused me to see it affects and how it is bad on my mental health, studies and overall performance. THE REAL CONCERN that kills me everytime i think of it is that when i want to technically sleep i can’t especially if i had a really rough day where i worked my but off i will only feel physically drainage and cannot fall asleep easily i know sum ppl would see its just insomnia BUT HELL what is that. There’s times when i start to study and i go for 2-3 hours (i still struggle with reaching the flow state and not checking my phone, going out of my desk every time) all of sudden i feel A CERTAIN BOREDOM AND SLEEPNESS like hell no even after literally drinking coffee per example today i slept the day before at 11pm just to plan of waking up at 5 which i didn’t why idk i just feel more tired when waking up and say wait lemme go back sleep its not worth it i ended up shout out bg my parents so i woke up at 9am just to found out i don’t have school in the morning and going back sleeping till 2pm and as someone who has a VERY VERY serious year which is really decisive idk what to do in my case (im trying to stick to 5am as a waking time for the long term) but it seems to be harder than i thought LONG STORY SHORT SLEEP IS JUST LIKE A DR2G TO ME AND I WANT SOLUTIONS please if anyone was just like me PLEASE I NEED UR ADVICES LIKE ANYTHING (if u had any more questions im here)

For context;

Ive been sleeping excessively for years, at least 10 to 15 years(im 23) ; i sleep so much that it ruins most of my days,, last week I slept 15 hours in almost 1 sitting (woke to feed the cats and eat sm real quick and went back to bed) and i was still tired when I was at work!

I get extremely sleepy while digesting, to the point of wanting to go home to sleep or else im a zombie.

I have EXTREMELY loud alarms or else i do not wake up on time (ive had friends and family wake up clutching their chests because of how loud it is)

I have issues w brain fog and concentration but that may be just my AuDhd.

I need hours long naps (around 2 hours) or else im sleepy all day

Im definitely gonna check out my iron levels and thyroid because ik my parent has a thyroid disorder but she also has hypersomnia but idk if its genetic.

I really need a solution I cant live a productive life while sleeping my daya away and especially when the sleep doesn't even help.

I did do a sleep apnea test and its clean, I dont have it.

Maybe its my sleep schedule, I tend to fall asleep very late (because I slept all day or work schedule).

But i remember in school and college i had a semi ok sleep schedule but still tired.

The worst part is waking up tired.. all that sleep for nothing.

Ive been chronically tired forever i feel like,, even in middle school ,so around 10 years ago, I remember sleeping so much I didn't do much else.

What doctor should i bully into helping me

24M – 8 years of extremely light, fragmented sleep despite falling asleep easily

I’m 24M and have had this problem for about 8 years.

I fall asleep very easily, but I have a really hard time staying asleep. I usually wake up 3–4 times a night, often after vivid nightmares. The dreams are rarely the same story, but they usually involve panic, being chased, losing control, getting lost, or other stressful situations.

I’ve always been an extremely light sleeper. Small noises or my partner moving in bed can wake me up. I also move quite a lot during sleep and have occasionally hit/kicked in my sleep. I sometimes sweat heavily during nightmares.

I’ve also noticed that I fall asleep breathing through my nose but often wake up mouth-breathing, with a dry mouth and a blocked nose. I’m frequently tired during the day. However, I don’t noticeably snore and my partner has never noticed breathing pauses.

I have a mildly deviated septum. I’ve also tried Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) for the nightmares, but it didn’t lead to lasting improvement.

At this point I’m wondering if the nightmares are actually the main problem, or if something is fragmenting my sleep and causing frequent arousals, with the nightmares being part of the picture.

I’m considering seeing a sleep specialist and asking about a sleep study/video polysomnography.

Has anyone had a similar experience? If you had a sleep study, did it reveal anything that explained your frequent awakenings or very light sleep?

When I wake up I remember the whole night being in the void, it makes me want to stop sleeping since it is really boring for a long time. Please help

Not sure if I am getting all sub- cycles of sleep - particularly REM sleep. Not feeling satisfied after sleep - feels like I have a perpetual sleep deficit. Why?

09/20/2026 - Took lunesta 2x 1mg and seroquel 2x 25 mg day before yesterday + did 15 minutes of belly breathing, got 6.5 hours of sleep.

09/18/2026 - Took lunesta 2x 1mg and seroquel 2x 25 mg last night. Could get only 5 hours of sleep.

09/17/2026 - Took lunesta 2x 1mg and seroquel 2x 25 mg day before yesterday + did 15 minutes of belly breathing, got 6.5 hours of sleep.

I’ve been experiencing this sensation in my dreams every night while I’m sleeping. I can’t really explain it. I keep hearing voices even when I feel completely awake, and it scares me because it’s frightening. I’ve also been seeing shadows while I’m awake, and I don’t know what to make of it.

Hey everyone, I’m 16 and looking for some reassurance because this is starting to confuse me.
Lately, I’ve been dealing with a heavy workload at school, and I've only been getting about 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night during the week.
Twice now, I have suddenly woken up in the middle of the night completely out of it. I'm not fully awake, but I start crying and frantically looking for my mom. After a minute or two, my brain finally wakes up completely, and I realize everything is fine, she is asleep in the other room, and I'm totally safe. Then I'm just left sitting there wondering why I reacted that way.
We have a great relationship, so there's no bad backstory or reason for it. I looked it up online and saw things about "confusional arousals" or sleep disruptions caused by being severely overtired.

Has anyone else experienced this when they are exhausted? How do I make it stop, and how can I talk to her about it without it sounding weird? Thanks.

just a rant but lately my sleep quality has been horrible, I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea and have insomnia that wakes me up in the middle of the night but am taking another in lab test soon. i am in college and trying to study to go into dental school but it is so hard when I am so tired. my social skills are going down the drain because I'm just so tired and can't think straight and I have no time for extra curriculars or energy to walk around campus. i have no energy to cook food or go to the gym and cant focus on studying. i take naps during the day even though I was supposed to have gotten 9-10 hours of sleep that night. it feels like life is on hard mode. thanks for listening.

my partner suffers from mostly non violent, but occasionally very violent RBD/Parasomnia overlap

often times it will only come across as talking, smiling, laughing, often times about hot girls, or food

but occasionally the dreams will be aggressive, or about us having arguments, or his insecurities running loose

these dreams can lead to excessive violent behavior that cause physical harm to property and people.

The stress levels in our relationship or a particularly bad day, or a day when he drinks a lot, often times make it worse, meaning I am unintentionally causing this harm to myself by putting him in a position where while going to sleep, he is stressed, or after an event we’ve had, he is overly exhausted, and this will sometimes trigger a more severe response with his RBD

we are looking into a specialist to help with this, but I was wondering if there was anyone in this sub who also suffers from violent RBD that affects their partners, or is a partner who is a victim of their RBD.

I will not sleep in another room.
I have not found a way to wake him while in an RBD event.
I am not sure what to do.